I just bought a handheld emulator (Anbernic RG35XX) and I’m now overwhelmed with options.
I’m also expecting to be destroyed by the games some of you were playing as children, but whatever. Anything PS1 and older is appreciated.
Age of Empires 2.
I absolutely suck at multiplayer, but it really is a fun game. I liked how its campaign mode teaches you history too. It got two remasters, and both are quite good in their own way. 2013 has visuals similar to the originals, and Definitive has its visuals vastly improved but kept the gameplay same.
As for consoles, Chrono Trigger for SNES is the most remarkable game I can think of. It takes time travel very well, I was honestly surprised how such a game was made at that era.
If you want a more casual game, Puyo Puyo for Genesis could do well. It could be hard when you first get into it. The games back then were written to be more difficult to get more playtime out of games; and the AI can easily catch you off guard with big chains. (Its english counterpart for Mega Drive is called Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, but the game is easily understood as it is already.)
You should definitely check out Project Celeste. It’s an opensource revamp of AOE-Online with great single player campaigns and multiplayer mode. They are constantly adding content and campaigns to the game.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Super Metroid
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest
Chronotrigger
Advance Wars 2
Psychonauts (maybe that’s too new idk)
I just played Super Mario World again. Great game!
With DevilutionX you can also play the original Diablo with gamepad controls.
Starfox 64 is also awesome.
And the original Tomb Raider is always great.
These are made for X86, so I’m not sure they technically count as “old games”, but I’ve had a blast with recompiled+ported versions of TLoZ:OoT and Perfect Dark.
Ship Of Harkinian in particular adds so many features and improvements, that I’m not sure I would enjoy the original OoT played on an actual N64.
They may still hold up when emulated, though…
The real camera controls in Ship of Harkinian are a game changer. It suddenly feels like a modern game.
I’m going to be honest, that’s the one improvement I’ve never used - the original pseudo tank controls are fine to me, at least on a X360 controller
Interesting, the camera is almost always the weakest link in early 3D games for me.
